Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people eligible but not registered to vote in each of the last 11 years, broken down by region;
	(2)  what the average rate of voter registration is in the 100  (a) least and  (b) most deprived wards; what assessment he has made of the effects of individual voter registration on the rate of registration in such wards; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: As my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to these questions from the hon. Gentleman on 16 June 2008,  Official Report, column 887W, the Government have not made any estimate of the number of people eligible but not registered to vote in each of the last 11 years, as such information is not available. However, the Electoral Commission estimated that 3.5 million eligible electors were not registered to vote in their report, 'Understanding Electoral Registration', which was published in 2005.
	It is not known what the average rate of voter registration is in the 100  (a) least and  (b) most deprived wards, as this information is not collected by Government. However, any new system of electoral registration in GB would need to be tailored to current circumstances, and in particular would need to address the challenge of under-registration.